Sir, - In the Rite and Reason column in The Irish Times of July 13th, Bishop Roy Warke complains about the publication of an interview which I conducted with a member of the Church of Ireland vestry at Drumcree (The Irish Times, July 7th), and compares it to the publication of an anonymous letter.
The interview was conducted face-to-face at Drumcree. Although the man in question had been quoted by name in numerous Northern papers and was taking part in a BBC TV programme about Drumcree then being prepared, he asked that his name should not be used in my article and this was stated when the article was published. I explained all this to Bishop Warke in a telephone conversation last week, in response to a message from him criticising the publication of the interview. I then offered him the Rite and Reason column to respond to what the Drumcree vestry member had said.
The publication of the interview in question does not set "a dangerous precedent for a quality newspaper", as Bishop Warke suggests. It is not uncommon for newspapers to agree not to use an interviewee's name in sensitive circumstances. - Yours, etc.,
Patsy McGarry, Religious Affairs Correspondent, The Irish Times.